Some stuff I like

by havoc

As you may have noticed, this blog is a big old grab-bag of random topics. In that spirit, here are some products I enjoyed lately, that people may not have heard of. In several cases these products are from small companies and I think they deserve a mention for their good work.

I’m going to affiliate-link the stuff, because why not, so be aware of that if it bothers you.

GeekDesk

The computer geeks reading my blog have probably seen this, but for the rest of you, I’d recommend it if you do any kind of desk work.

GeekDesk lets you use a standing desk part of the day without committing to standing up always. It has a little motor so you can quickly raise or lower the desktop.

(Why a standing desk? Sitting down all day is really bad for you, even if you exercise daily.)

I’ve found that I almost always stand, now that I’m used to it. But it’s nice to have the option to sit.

I have the GeekDesk Mini which is still large, about 3 laptops wide by 2 deep.

When standing, a laptop screen is too low for me and requires hunching over, so I had to get a monitor with a stand, and then I had to pile some books under the stand. With the monitor, I can stand up straight and look at the screen directly.

You can also buy only the motorized legs and put your own top on the GeekDesk if you have a nice piece of wood in mind.

The desk has decent cable management, but I also screwed a power strip to the bottom of the desktop so only one power cord goes to the floor.

Quakehold

Quakehold is a removable museum putty that makes things stay put.

As the name suggests, one use of it is to keep stuff on shelves during an earthquake, and I’m guessing those of you who live in an earthquake zone already know about it. I didn’t know about it.

It’s useful in a duct-tape kind of way. Some examples in our house:

  • making our lamps harder for kids to knock over
  • keeping a power strip on the bottom of my GeekDesk from slipping off its mounting screws
  • sticking down a diaper changing apparatus to keep it from sliding around
  • keeping our toddler from sliding an anti-toddler fence across the room

In most cases you could also use duct tape, I suppose, but the putty is easier to remove without damaging surfaces, and avoids looking too There, I Fixed It.

SimpliSafe

SimpliSafe is an alarm system we installed in our house a few weeks ago, and it’s a Boston startup, for those of you in Boston wanting to support local companies.

I’m very impressed with the product, but boy was it hard to discover. I just Googled “alarm system” for example, and they aren’t in the ads and aren’t in the first 8 pages of organic results. (If you’re an SEO consultant you might want to get in touch.)

SimpliSafe uses completely wireless (battery powered) sensors that stick to your wall with 3M Command. When you get the system it’s preloaded with the codes for your sensors, so there’s no pairing process. All you do is pull the plastic tab blocking the battery from each sensor, stick it to the wall or put it on a shelf, and then plug a USB stick they provide into your computer. On the computer there’s a simple setup process to tell the monitoring service who to call and so on. After setting up, you put the USB stick in the base station to transfer the settings, and that’s it.

It takes about half an hour to install and set up. Maybe an hour if you’re the kind to read the (clear and excellent) instructions.

Here’s the comparison:

  • ADT: you have to talk to a salesperson on commission. They are selling a 3-year contract that auto-renews if you don’t cancel in time, and it costs almost $50/month if you get cellular monitoring. The up-front equipment can be expensive (they have free or cheap packages, but those don’t include what you probably need).
  • SimpliSafe: you order online and self-install in half an hour. There’s no contract, and cellular monitoring is $15/month. No need for a land line. The up-front equipment is reasonably-priced.

As a middle ground, I guess there’s a whole community out there of people who roll their own alarm and home automation systems, and it looks possible to get a lot cheaper than ADT that way as well. However, it looked way too time consuming for me. I think you can also switch your ADT equipment over to a cheaper monitoring service, at least after your 3 year contract expires if you catch it prior to autorenew.

SimpliSafe‘s industrial and interaction design are great. The web UI is simple, and everything is pre-configured as much as possible. (For example, the base unit already knows about your sensors when you get it.) They really thought through the whole experience.

The product is marketed for apartments (because there’s no permanent installation), but it seems to be fine for our house. If you live in a large enough place or have metal walls, it may not work for you.

Other possible downsides:

  • I’m guessing the system uses ZigBee or something similar, but they don’t say, and they don’t claim to support any sensors they don’t sell. Basically it isn’t an open system, you have to buy components from them.
  • They only have basic sensors right now, for example no fire alarm or glass break detector yet, though they say they will in the future.
  • There’s no “home automation” stuff, it’s purely a burglar alarm.

By the way, in researching this two other interesting companies I saw using low-power wireless were VueZone and AlertMe (UK only). I have not tried either one, but they seem to be similar in spirit to SimpliSafe (i.e. low-power wireless technology with decent industrial design).

SLS-Free Toothpaste

This product won’t be relevant to everyone, but if it is and you don’t know about it, you might thank me.

At the risk of too much information, I used to get canker sores, anytime I bit my lip or flew on an airplane or just had bad luck. These would make me miserable and grumpy for days, every other week or so. (Yeah, more grumpy than usual, haha.) While not life-threatening, it was unpleasant.

Now I use some stuff called Biotene which has been essentially a miracle cure. Instead of being in pain on a regular basis, I never have a problem. It isn’t some placebo effect “maybe it’s a bit better” kind of thing, it’s a change from “have constant chronic problem for years” to “never have the problem at all.” If I travel or something and don’t use the miracle toothpaste, I can get a canker sore again, but on resuming the toothpaste it will clear up.

Biotene claims to have magic enzymes. I don’t know if the enzymes do anything, or if it’s primarily the SLS-freeness that works. You may have luck with other toothpastes as well. Anyway, I pay for my overpriced toothpaste and it is worth every penny. Most drugstores, Target, etc. carry it.

GoGo Babyz Travelmate car seat wheels

The biggest problem here is the name, GoGo Babyz Travelmate. Bad name.

If you take your baby or toddler on a plane, this eliminates the need for a stroller, giving you one less thing to check and one more free hand. If you’ve taken a baby or toddler on a plane, you understand the value of that.

The gadget adds roller-bag wheels and handle to your car seat, so you can push or pull your kid like a roller bag. Comical but it works.

We gate-checked the GoGo Babyz, but I think you could get it in the overhead bin especially if you pop the wheels off (which is pretty easy).

My Twitter account is @havocp.
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